1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 Amen. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,000 Amen. 3 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,000 Amen. 4 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:29,000 And we're going to be doing versus, oh, hi. Where did you come from? 5 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:58,000 Verses four through six. Okay, shh, okay. All right. "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For he will 6 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:27,000 hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy. I will sing and make melody to the Lord." This is the word 7 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:56,000 of the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you so much for being able to gather here today together and to worship you together and to sing and shout for joy on all the things that you do for us and how you take care of us and provide for us. We thank you so much for your word and that we can be reminded each week of your promises and your goodness and how dwelling in your house 8 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:09,000 is good for all the days of our lives. And just be with our service today and allow it to glorify you. In Jesus name. Amen. All right, we're going to start by singing "The Battle Belongs." 9 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:32,000 When all I see is the battle, you see my victory. When all I see is the mountain, you see a mountain. 10 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:42,000 And as I walk through this shadow, your love surrounds me. There's nothing to fear now, for I am safe with you. 11 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:51,000 When all I see is the mountain, you see a mountain moved. And as I walk through this shadow, your love surrounds me. 12 00:04:51,000 --> 00:05:01,000 There's nothing to fear now, for I am safe with you. 13 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:30,000 When I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. 14 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:59,000 And if you are for me, who can be against me? For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you. When all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty. 15 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:28,000 When all I see is a cross, God, you see the empty tomb. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. 16 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:57,000 And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, 17 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:07,000 I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. 18 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:26,000 You can remain standing if you want, or you can sit. And just a quick little announcement thing, we have snacks and coffee in the 19 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:31,000 back that are for anybody if you'd like some. And we have communion and handouts on the back of the table there 20 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:39,000 if you need that for our service today. And so we're going to move into our prayer and share time. And if you're watching online, 21 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:44,000 there will be a slide up with a phone number for you to text if you would like to send us a new prayer request or anything 22 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:50,000 you'd like to share. Just text that number and we will share that here. And then we're going to be muted during that time. 23 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:55,000 So just give us a few minutes and we'll be back after our time together with that. 24 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,000 So our next song we're going to be doing is "How Great Is Our God." 25 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:34,000 The splendor of the King. Oh, the majesty. Let all the earth rejoice. All the earth rejoice. He wraps himself in light. 26 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:59,000 The darkness tries to hide. He trembles at his voice. He trembles at his voice. How great is our God. Sing with me how great is our God. Oh, see how great, how great is our God. 27 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:23,000 How great, how great is our God. And page to page he stands. And time is in his hands. Beginning and the end. Beginning and the end. 28 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:51,000 Beginning and the end. The Godhead, three and one. Father, Spirit, Son. The Lion and the Lamb. The Lion and the Lamb. How great is our God. Sing to me, how great is our God. 29 00:09:51,000 --> 00:10:19,000 Sing with me, how great is our God. Oh, see how great, how great is our God. How great is our God. Sing with me, how great is our God. Oh, see how great is our God. Sing with me, how great is our God. 30 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:47,000 Oh, see how great, how great is our God. Name above all names, worthy of all praise. My heart will sing how great is our God. 31 00:10:47,000 --> 00:11:15,000 How great is our God. Name above all names, worthy of all praise. My heart will sing how great is our God. 32 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:43,000 How great is our God. Sing with me. How great is our God. Oh, we'll see how great, how great is our God. 33 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,000 Let's pray. 34 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:42,980 Let's pray. 35 00:12:43,000 --> 00:13:12,980 Let's pray. 36 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,000 Amen. 37 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,000 Amen. 38 00:22:43,000 --> 00:23:12,000 He became sin, who knew no sin. That we might become His righteousness. 39 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:41,000 He humbled Himself and carried the cross. Love so amazing. Love so amazing. Jesus, Messiah, name above all names. 40 00:23:41,000 --> 00:24:10,000 Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel. The rescue for sinners. The ransom from heaven. Jesus, Messiah. 41 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:39,000 Lord of all. His body the breath. His blood the wine. Broken and poured out all for love. The whole earth trembled and the veil was torn. 42 00:24:39,000 --> 00:25:08,000 Love so amazing. Love so amazing. Yeah. Jesus, Messiah. Name above all names. Blessed Redeemer. Emmanuel. 43 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:37,000 The rescue for sinners. The ransom from heaven. Jesus, Messiah. Lord of all. Jesus, Messiah. 44 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:44,000 Messiah. Lord of all. 45 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:30,000 I sent Greg a text a minute ago with a picture of the front, and I said, "Hey, guess where the little boys are?" So, we'll see what he has to say. 46 00:26:37,000 --> 00:27:02,000 We're so thankful for our little guys. They bring a life to us, right? Some humor and some joy, and we're always reminded, right, that Jesus was very specific about what he said about kids, right? He said, "Let the little children come to me." So, we are very thankful for our little ones. 47 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:27,000 I was getting dinner ready earlier this week, and I was sitting in the kitchen, and I got the meat out, and I started cutting open the packaging, and then threw it away, and I turned around, and there's two very large dogs, both of our not very well-behaved dogs, standing there just eyeing the trash can because they heard, you know, stuff happening in the kitchen, their favorite place. 48 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:53,000 They heard things being unwrapped and rustling, and so there they were, standing next to the trash can, wanting that piece of plastic that the meat had come out of. And as I was thinking about that situation, the remarkable thing was, you know, three feet away on the counter, sitting on the cutting board is this big old chunk of meat, right? It's not a piece of plastic with some leftover scent and juices in it, right? 49 00:27:53,000 --> 00:28:19,000 The actual meat is over there, but here they are, focused on that trash can, the absolutely wrong thing. And I think very many times we sort of have the same thing happening in our lives, right? We have all of the goodness and the glory and the joy that's offered by the good news of the gospel that's given to us by God through His Son, empowered in our lives by the Holy Spirit. 50 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:35,000 And here we are, instead of desiring the right thing, desiring the absolute wrong thing. In 2 Chronicles, the 15th chapter, there's an account of what's happening in the southern kingdom of Israel in Judah. 51 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:47,000 There's a new king, and he comes to power, and God speaks to the new king, and revival breaks out among all of the people. Not just the king is revived spiritually, but all of the people. 52 00:28:47,000 --> 00:29:00,000 And in the middle of all of this, the people rededicate themselves to God, and I want you to hear what they said. It says, "All of Judah rejoiced over the oath." The oath is their recommitment to follow God. 53 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:15,000 "For they had sworn with all of their heart, and they had sought Him with their whole desire, and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around." You see, one of the things that happens 54 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:43,000 when we chase those wrong desires is that our life feels oftentimes like it's falling apart, because we're chasing the thing that will never satisfy our soul. And so we chase after something, and then when we get it, we find that it doesn't meet the desires, and so we chase something else, and then we chase something else, and our whole life is this chasing after ultimate emptiness. But here these people turn their lives, and they 55 00:29:43,000 --> 00:30:11,000 fix their desires upon God, and ultimately He gives them rest. And so as we come to the table this morning, we're reminded that this isn't just a reminder of the Gospel, but it's also a time for God's people to evaluate themselves, to consider our desires. What is it that we are chasing? What is it that we are hoping in? Because ultimately, as we just sang, our hope is in the Gospel. 56 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:19,000 That Jesus gave His life on our behalf. So I'm going to pray, and we'll read some Scripture, and then we will partake together of the Lord's Supper. 57 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:30,000 Father in Heaven, help us to evaluate our desires, to look at our hopes and our dreams, and where we are finding our joy, and may they be fixed and centered upon You. 58 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:40,000 I thank You for Jesus. I thank You for grace. I thank You for hope. We thank You for Your Spirit that is within us, strengthening us and encouraging us. 59 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:52,000 May this be a moment of evaluation. May this be a moment of hope. May it be a moment of joy in the Gospel. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 60 00:30:52,000 --> 00:31:05,000 Jesus, Paul, recording what Jesus said, will say this: "What I received from the Lord, I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 61 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:16,000 "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, also, He took the cup after supper, saying, 62 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:30,000 "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." And then Jesus will close this meal by saying, 63 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:37,000 "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." 64 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:20,000 This morning's reading is from Acts 28, and it concludes a rather astonishing journey that began in the book of Genesis, and we're sort of closing out the narrative history part of Scripture, and it's kind of astonishing if you think about it for a minute. 65 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:45,000 When the local leaders of the Jews had appointed a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in great number. From morning till evening, Paul expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. 66 00:32:45,000 --> 00:33:10,000 And some were convinced by what Paul said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement. The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers, through Isaiah the prophet, "Go to the people and say, 'You will indeed 67 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:35,000 hear, but never understand; and you will indeed see, but never perceive.' For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, 68 00:33:35,000 --> 00:34:00,000 and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them. Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen." Paul lived there two whole years, at his own expense, and welcomed all 69 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:18,000 who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God, and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God. 70 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:27,000 All right, we have spent a lot of time in the book of Acts over the last year, and I was thinking about that because for us that seems like a lot of time in the book of Acts over the last year. 71 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:38,000 And I was thinking about that because for us that seems like a long time because most of us can sit down and if we spend a little bit of time, we can read through the entire book of Acts depending on how quickly you read. 72 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:50,000 We can read through it fairly quickly. In terms of a book, it's not a long one. But we've spent, I think, a little over a year walking through the book of Acts. 73 00:34:50,000 --> 00:35:04,000 But the remarkable thing about this is we often don't realize how time passes in Scripture. Because Acts here, it's not just a minute-by-minute account from chapter 1 to Acts chapter 28. 74 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:15,000 It is little glimpses of the church here and there and over here. And so from the time that we started in Acts chapter 1 till now in Paul's imprisonment, 75 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:24,000 we're somewhere between probably 25 and 30 years of the history of the church. And so we come to sort of the close. 76 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:33,000 We talked a little bit about what we have seen God with His people and in His people and through His people for the good of the gospel. 77 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:42,000 Last week as we sort of began to wrap up the book of Acts this morning, I want to talk as Paul sort of delivers or we sort of get a glimpse of his last sermon 78 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:47,000 and sort of take away some things that I think the church can use and be helped by. 79 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:52,000 So let's go ahead and have a word of prayer and then we'll just jump right into this section. 80 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:57,000 Father in heaven, thank you for Jesus and for grace. We thank you for your word. 81 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:05,000 We thank you for your people that encourage us and help us. We thank you that we can gather here and that we can open your word, 82 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:11,000 that we can read your Scriptures, that we can partake together around the table, that we can sing together. 83 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:18,000 So be with us this morning. May your spirit teach us and help us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 84 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:27,000 And so as Paul has begun to speak, what's interesting is his message is that much different from what we've seen him preach, 85 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:34,000 both to the Gentiles and to the Jews. He has preached that Jesus is the hope. 86 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:42,000 He's taught people about the kingdom of God, and now he is speaking sort of the last recorded sermon of Paul in the book of Acts. 87 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:51,000 He's speaking to his Jewish brothers. And one of the things that we immediately see, and we've seen this throughout the book of Acts, 88 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:58,000 and in a minute we'll see it throughout the entire Bible, is that Jesus is at the center. 89 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:06,000 Listen to what Paul says, what Luke says about Paul, "From morning till evening he had expounded to them." 90 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:12,000 And so expounding means that he was taking the Word of God, the Old Testament, and sort of unpacking it to them, 91 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:20,000 letting them sort of see from what God has said, testifying to the kingdom of God, and trying to convince them about Jesus, 92 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:24,000 both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, right? 93 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:31,000 And so Paul's desire, since he has become a Christian, is to tell everybody that he can about Jesus. 94 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:36,000 And what's remarkable about this is that this includes his enemies. 95 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:43,000 These people who he is speaking to Jesus about right now, when he gets to Rome, he sits down, he's been there three days, 96 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:50,000 sits them down and says, "I'm here because of the Jewish brothers in Judea who have attacked me, 97 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:57,000 they've tried to kill me, they've made false accusations for me, and now I am standing trial before the emperor." 98 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:03,000 And they go, "Well, we haven't heard anything about you, but we've heard nothing good about Christianity." 99 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,000 And so Paul sees an opening and says, "Well, let me tell you about Christianity." 100 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:13,000 And he begins to tell those who have so frequently opposed him about the good news about Jesus. 101 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:22,000 And what's remarkable about this picture of Paul placing Jesus at the center is that it's not remarkable in the book of Acts. 102 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:26,000 Everywhere you turn, you see Jesus at the center. 103 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:32,000 In Acts chapter 2, as the church began, it begins with Peter preaching about Jesus. 104 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:41,000 Acts chapter 3, Peter and John, they heal a lame man, and when everybody starts gawking, Peter says, "It's not about us, it's about Jesus." 105 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:49,000 Acts chapter 4, they're before the Jewish religious authorities, and they began to speak about Jesus to them. 106 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:56,000 And these religious leaders will say this, "They called them, charged them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. 107 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:02,000 But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, 108 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:09,000 you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we've seen and heard." They said, "We're not going to stop and to speak." 109 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:14,000 Acts chapter 5, they are led out of jail to preach about Jesus. 110 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:18,000 Stephen, as he is being murdered, preaches about Jesus. 111 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:26,000 And more than that, it wasn't just sort of the religious Christian leaders, the apostles and those first deacons like Stephen, 112 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:31,000 but in Acts chapter 8, it's the ordinary Christians. As they leave Jerusalem, it says, 113 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:37,000 "Those who were scattered went about preaching the word." And what you see is it doesn't just stop there, 114 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:43,000 but everywhere in the book of Acts, you find Jesus being proclaimed. 115 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:48,000 In fact, this is why Luke writes, both Luke and Acts, he'll start Acts like this. 116 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:54,000 "In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 117 00:39:54,000 --> 00:40:01,000 until the day he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles to whom he had chosen." 118 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:06,000 And so he starts by saying, "Hey, my first book, that's the book of Luke in your Bible, 119 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:15,000 is all about what Jesus began to do. Now I'm going to write you a book about what Jesus continues to do through his church." 120 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:25,000 As we look at the ministry of Jesus, what we find is Jesus says the same thing in Luke 24:27. 121 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,000 It might be Acts 24:27 in your handout, but that's not right. 122 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:35,000 "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the things in Scripture, 123 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:40,000 concerning himself." And so Jesus, speaking to two of his followers, will say, 124 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,000 "All right, let's start at the beginning of the Old Testament, 125 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:49,000 and I'm going to tell you how everything in the Bible points ultimately to me." 126 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:55,000 And so I'll just give you a couple of examples. Adam, the very first man with the first woman, 127 00:40:55,000 --> 00:41:01,000 they sin and everything breaks, right? Relationships shatter. Our relationship with God shatters. 128 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:07,000 Sin enters this world. Creation shatters. There's weeds. There's struggle. There's hurt. 129 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:13,000 And you have this picture of Adam as the Bible begins. And what does Paul say in Romans? 130 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:19,000 He'll say in Romans chapter 5, "For as by one man's disobedience," that's Adam, 131 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:25,000 and he says so in the verses right before that. "We're made sinners, so by one man's obedience 132 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:30,000 the many will be made righteous." And so Paul, as he looks back to the Old Testament, 133 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:35,000 sees Adam and sees how everything was broken by Adam, he will say, "There comes 134 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:43,000 another Adam who will make everything right," and that Adam is Jesus. 135 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:49,000 If you go just a few more chapters, Adam and Eve have two sons. And their sons 136 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,000 begin to struggle and fight as brothers do, but ultimately their son Cain 137 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:59,000 kills their son Abel. And in Hebrews chapter 12, it says this, "You have 138 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:05,000 come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the innumerable 139 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:10,000 angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled 140 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:15,000 in heaven, and to the God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made 141 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:20,000 perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, 142 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:24,000 speaking about the blood of Jesus, that speaks a better word than the blood 143 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:28,000 of Abel." And so when Abel is murdered by his brother, God will 144 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:33,000 go to Cain, and he will say, "Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." 145 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:37,000 What he's saying is, "Your brother's blood cries out for vengeance." 146 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:42,000 What the writer of Hebrews says is, "There came another Abel, whose blood 147 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:46,000 doesn't cry out for vengeance, but cries out for our 148 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:50,000 forgiveness, and for our redemption." And it doesn't 149 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:54,000 stop with Cain and Abel. Throughout all of Scripture, 150 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:58,000 you find everyone pointing to Christ. Abraham 151 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,000 points to Christ. David points us to Christ. 152 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:06,000 The prophets point us to Christ. Sometimes in their words, and 153 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:10,000 sometimes in their actions. Do you know the only place Jonah, 154 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:14,000 the prophet Jonah is mentioned in the New Testament? Several places, but the only 155 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:18,000 reason he is mentioned is how he points to Jesus. 156 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:22,000 Jesus himself will say, "Jonah was three days and three nights 157 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:26,000 in the belly of the whale." And he says, "That's a prophecy about what 158 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:30,000 ultimately would happen to me." What you find is the Lamb of the 159 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:34,000 Passover points to Jesus. The prophetic work of the prophets 160 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:38,000 points to a better prophet, Jesus. The kings of Israel point to the true 161 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:42,000 King, Jesus. The priests that stood between the people and God 162 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:46,000 point to Jesus, our new and better priests. 163 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:50,000 What you find is that everything throughout the Old Testament 164 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:54,000 points to Jesus. And Paul 165 00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,000 has had Jesus at the center. 166 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:58,000 The apostles, as they preach, had Jesus at the center. 167 00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:00,000 Luke, as he writes, has Jesus 168 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:02,000 at the center. And rightly so, because 169 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,000 Jesus says, "All of the Scriptures 170 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:06,000 point to me." 171 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,000 And the forgiveness that is found 172 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:10,000 through what I have done. 173 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:12,000 So I'd ask you this, what is 174 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:14,000 the mission of the church? 175 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,000 Jesus will say this, 176 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:18,000 "All authority has been given 177 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:20,000 to me. Go therefore and make 178 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,000 disciples of all nations." 179 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:24,000 Disciples of Jesus. 180 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,000 Baptizing them in the name of the Father 181 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,000 and the Son, that's Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. 182 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:30,000 Teaching them to observe 183 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,000 all that I, that's Jesus, 184 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,000 have commanded you. 185 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,000 Behold, I am with you always 186 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:38,000 to the end of the age. 187 00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:40,000 And one of the struggles in the church, 188 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:42,000 I think, is that 189 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:44,000 we get sidetracked 190 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,000 from our primary mission 191 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:48,000 of following Jesus, 192 00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:50,000 proclaiming Jesus, 193 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,000 and living for Jesus. 194 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:54,000 That in many ways, 195 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:56,000 in the church, it's so easy for us 196 00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:58,000 to get sidetracked 197 00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:00,000 by some other mission 198 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,000 rather than following Jesus. 199 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:04,000 And often times, 200 00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:06,000 we're not chasing something 201 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,000 that's bad, we're just not chasing 202 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:10,000 something that's ultimate. 203 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,000 Ice cream is good, 204 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:14,000 but if you eat ice cream 205 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:16,000 for every meal, that's not good. 206 00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:18,000 Work is 207 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,000 to us work 208 00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:22,000 as a way of 209 00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:24,000 being involved in His world, but 210 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,000 if all we do is 211 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,000 work, right, we 212 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:30,000 can lose so many 213 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:32,000 important things. 214 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:34,000 Rest is good. God 215 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:36,000 mandates us to rest 216 00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:38,000 and to recharge and to rejoice 217 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,000 and enjoy His creation, but 218 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:42,000 if all we ever do is 219 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,000 rest, what happens? 220 00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:46,000 It all falls apart. Those things are all 221 00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:48,000 by and of themselves good, right? 222 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,000 Ice cream is good. Work is good. Rest 223 00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:52,000 is good. But if we make that 224 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:54,000 ultimate, what happens? 225 00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:56,000 Everything begins to fall apart. 226 00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:58,000 And in the same way, the church 227 00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:00,000 oftentimes pursues things 228 00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:02,000 that are good 229 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,000 at the expense of what is ultimate 230 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:06,000 which is ultimately following 231 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:08,000 Jesus. 232 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:10,000 And so one of the things that we find the 233 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:12,000 Mark's doing for the church is 234 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,000 calling us to evaluate 235 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,000 what is at the center of our hearts? 236 00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:18,000 What is at the center of our mission? 237 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:20,000 Where is it that we are going? How are we 238 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:22,000 getting there? And the answer is Jesus. 239 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:24,000 That we follow 240 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:26,000 Jesus. 241 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,000 And that task 242 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:30,000 seems large, right? Because as Paul 243 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,000 has followed Jesus, it has not been easy. 244 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,000 He's been persecuted. He's been 245 00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:36,000 shift wrecked. He's been beaten up. 246 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:38,000 He's had people insult him, 247 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,000 attack him, falsely accuse him. 248 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,000 And so if we say our mission is to follow 249 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,000 Jesus, when we look at the strength 250 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:46,000 that we have, we will say, "I don't know that I 251 00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:48,000 can do it. I don't know if 252 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:50,000 I'm strong enough." 253 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:52,000 It's like the one who goes to Jesus 254 00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:54,000 and asks for his son to be healed 255 00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:56,000 and he says, "If you believe." 256 00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:58,000 And the man says, "I believe, 257 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,000 but I don't know if I'm strong enough." 258 00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:02,000 And he says, "Help my unbelief." 259 00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:04,000 God does not 260 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:06,000 give us something that he does not equip 261 00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:08,000 us to do. 262 00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:10,000 Look at what Acts 263 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:12,000 says about the church. Jesus 264 00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:14,000 will say this, "You will receive power 265 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:16,000 when the Holy Spirit has come upon you 266 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:18,000 and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem 267 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:20,000 and in all Judea and Samaria 268 00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:22,000 and to the ends of the earth." Jesus will say 269 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:24,000 to the church, through the 270 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,000 apostles, that I'm going to 271 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:28,000 empower you with my spirit for the mission 272 00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:30,000 of proclaiming me 273 00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:32,000 to the nations. 274 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:34,000 And what you find is through the Holy Spirit 275 00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:36,000 the church is given what it needs. 276 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,000 Look at the very first example 277 00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:40,000 in Acts chapter 2. 278 00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:42,000 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together 279 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:44,000 in one place. Suddenly there came 280 00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:46,000 from heaven a sound like a mighty 281 00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:48,000 rushing wind, and it filled 282 00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:50,000 the entire house where they were sitting. 283 00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:52,000 And it divided on tongues of fire 284 00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:54,000 and appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 285 00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:56,000 And they were filled with the Holy Spirit 286 00:47:56,000 --> 00:47:58,000 and they began to speak in tongues 287 00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,000 as the Spirit gave them utterance. 288 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:02,000 And now what was the purpose 289 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:04,000 of this gift? We find 290 00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:06,000 in the very next verses there were 291 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:08,000 dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men 292 00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:10,000 from every nation 293 00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:12,000 under heaven. And at the sound of the 294 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:14,000 multitude came together and were bewildered 295 00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:16,000 because each one of them was hearing them 296 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:18,000 speak in their own language. 297 00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,000 And so Jesus says, "You need to proclaim the Gospel 298 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:22,000 to the nations." And they say, "How do we do 299 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,000 that?" And so they're praying about how to do 300 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:26,000 that. And the Holy Spirit comes 301 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:28,000 and they begin to speak joyfully 302 00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:30,000 in other languages that all 303 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:32,000 these people from all different 304 00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:34,000 parts of the world, from 305 00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:36,000 Rome, from North Africa, 306 00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:38,000 from East and West and North 307 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:40,000 and South, all come 308 00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:42,000 and they hear 309 00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:44,000 the Gospel proclaimed 310 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:46,000 in their own language. 311 00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,000 And God 312 00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:50,000 gifts us so 313 00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:52,000 that we can proclaim the Gospel, sometimes 314 00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:54,000 miraculously, sometimes through the gifts. 315 00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:56,000 One of my favorite pictures 316 00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:58,000 is 317 00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:00,000 in Acts chapter 5. 318 00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,000 Peter and 319 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:04,000 John, the disciples, are in prison. 320 00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,000 And in the middle of that 321 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,000 chapter, they're arrested. 322 00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:10,000 And in verse 19, "During the 323 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:12,000 night, the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, 324 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:14,000 brought them out and said, 'Go stand in the temple.'" 325 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:16,000 This is where they just got arrested that day. 326 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:18,000 "Speak to the people the word of life. 327 00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:20,000 When they enter the temple at daybreak, 328 00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:22,000 they begin to teach." 329 00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:24,000 Jesus equips his church 330 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:26,000 through how 331 00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:28,000 he encourages us 332 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:30,000 to share the gospel. 333 00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:32,000 And not just, he doesn't give us the tools we need, 334 00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:34,000 whether that's the ability to communicate 335 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:36,000 or whether that's the opening 336 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:38,000 the prison doors or maybe 337 00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:40,000 what he's gifted you with in your area 338 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:42,000 of service. 339 00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:44,000 Right? You find that some are called 340 00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:46,000 one way and some are called another way. 341 00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:48,000 God has gifted all of us in the church. 342 00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:50,000 But he also gives us 343 00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:52,000 the courage to use those 344 00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,000 gifts. In Acts chapter 345 00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:56,000 4, it will say they saw the boldness of 346 00:49:56,000 --> 00:49:58,000 Peter and John. They perceived 347 00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:00,000 they were uneducated common men. 348 00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:02,000 They were astonished. Here's the important 349 00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:04,000 part: they recognized that they had been 350 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,000 with Jesus. 351 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:08,000 And then sometimes the Spirit gives us 352 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:10,000 opportunities. If you remember 353 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:12,000 Philip in Acts chapter 8, 354 00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:14,000 the Spirit said as he's walking down a road 355 00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:16,000 and a chariot comes by with the Ethiopian 356 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:18,000 he says, "Go over and join 357 00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:20,000 the chariot." 358 00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:22,000 You find that the Spirit empowers us. 359 00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:24,000 He gives us 360 00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:26,000 courage to use what we've been given 361 00:50:26,000 --> 00:50:28,000 and he gives us the opportunity 362 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:30,000 to use it. And so you see 363 00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:32,000 this mission of Acts to proclaim 364 00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:34,000 Jesus, which is what Paul is doing 365 00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:36,000 in these verses, isn't 366 00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:38,000 just a mission given, but it's a mission 367 00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:40,000 that is equipped by the power 368 00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:42,000 of God. 369 00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:44,000 We're given a mission, but God gives 370 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:46,000 us the strength that we need. 371 00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:48,000 And this is what Paul is doing right here in Acts 372 00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:50,000 chapter 28, right? He's equipped 373 00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:52,000 by the Spirit. He's empowered 374 00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:54,000 by the Spirit. He's led 375 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,000 to share the Gospel. 376 00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:58,000 We only get a 377 00:50:58,000 --> 00:51:00,000 very tiny glimpse 378 00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:02,000 of Paul's final message 379 00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:04,000 in Acts. 380 00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:06,000 And we've looked at part of it, that he testified 381 00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:08,000 to the Kingdom of God, trying to convince 382 00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:10,000 them about Jesus from the law of 383 00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:12,000 Moses and the prophets, but then he goes 384 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:14,000 to the book of Isaiah, and he gives 385 00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:16,000 them this sort of final warning. 386 00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:18,000 Go to this people, 387 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:20,000 this is quoting from Isaiah 6, and say, 388 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,000 "You will indeed hear, 389 00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,000 but never understand. You will indeed 390 00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:26,000 see, but never perceive. 391 00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:28,000 For this people's heart 392 00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:30,000 has grown dull, 393 00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:32,000 and with their ears they could barely hear, 394 00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:34,000 with their eyes closed, lest 395 00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:36,000 they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, 396 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:38,000 understand with their heart, and 397 00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:40,000 turn, and I would heal them. Therefore, 398 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:42,000 let it be known to you that 399 00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:44,000 this salvation God has 400 00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:46,000 been sent to the Gentiles, and 401 00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:48,000 they will listen." 402 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:50,000 And so Paul, 403 00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:52,000 quoting from Isaiah 6, 404 00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:54,000 first of all, is using these 405 00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:56,000 difficult words 406 00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:58,000 to break through 407 00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:00,000 hard hearts. So if you've 408 00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:02,000 ever watched any of those home improvement 409 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:04,000 shows where they go in and they're going to 410 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:06,000 transform a house from something that seems 411 00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:08,000 like it's falling apart to something 412 00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:10,000 that is beautiful and wonderful, 413 00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:12,000 and they walk in and the very first 414 00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,000 thing they do is get out the hammers 415 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:16,000 and begin knocking stuff down. 416 00:52:16,000 --> 00:52:18,000 And there's this picture of 417 00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:20,000 demolition, and sometimes what happens 418 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:22,000 is our hearts need some 419 00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:24,000 demolition. That the Word of 420 00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:26,000 God is sometimes 421 00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:28,000 a comfort, sometimes a 422 00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:30,000 shield, but sometimes it's 423 00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:32,000 a hammer. And it goes 424 00:52:32,000 --> 00:52:34,000 after the hardness of our hearts. 425 00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:36,000 And as Paul is preaching 426 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:38,000 to these people and sharing the good news of Jesus, 427 00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:40,000 there's some who believe 428 00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:42,000 and there's others who have hardened their 429 00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:44,000 hearts. And so what Paul does 430 00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,000 is he pulls out, essentially, the Gospel 431 00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:48,000 hammer. And he's seeking 432 00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:50,000 to soften their hearts 433 00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:52,000 with these words from Isaiah 6. 434 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:54,000 It reminds them of God's 435 00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:56,000 word to Isaiah the prophet. 436 00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:58,000 Isaiah 6 is where Isaiah 437 00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:00,000 is in the temple, and he sees the 438 00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:02,000 glory of the Lord. 439 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,000 And he 440 00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:06,000 is given this mission from God. 441 00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:08,000 And he says, "Who am I? 442 00:53:08,000 --> 00:53:10,000 I'm a man of unclean lips. 443 00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,000 I come from a people of 444 00:53:12,000 --> 00:53:14,000 unclean lips, and my eyes 445 00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:16,000 have seen the Lord, and God 446 00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:18,000 purifies him in this mission." 447 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:20,000 It would be an exciting thing, until 448 00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:22,000 you say, "How is that mission going to go?" 449 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:24,000 And God says, "I'm going to send you to a 450 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:26,000 bunch of hard-hearted people who 451 00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:28,000 haven't heard, who aren't going to hear, 452 00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:30,000 and don't want to hear." 453 00:53:30,000 --> 00:53:32,000 That's not a very good way 454 00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:34,000 to start your 455 00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:36,000 ministry. And if you 456 00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:38,000 ask any of Paul's listeners, 457 00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:40,000 "Are you like those people that Isaiah 458 00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:42,000 went to?" They say, "Absolutely not! We love 459 00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:44,000 the Word of God! We listen to the Word of God!" 460 00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:46,000 And then Paul turns it around and says, 461 00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:48,000 "But you're doing the same exact 462 00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:50,000 thing that they 463 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:52,000 were doing." 464 00:53:52,000 --> 00:53:54,000 This isn't just a 465 00:53:54,000 --> 00:53:56,000 hammer for the hearts 466 00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:58,000 of these people that Paul is talking 467 00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:00,000 to. It's a hammer 468 00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:02,000 for our hearts as 469 00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:04,000 well. Right? We look at 470 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:06,000 ourselves and say, "Well, I'd never be like that. I'd 471 00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:08,000 never not listen to the goodness 472 00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:10,000 of God. I'd never not listen 473 00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:12,000 to the wonder of the 474 00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:14,000 Gospel." But what we 475 00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:16,000 find is that our hearts 476 00:54:16,000 --> 00:54:18,000 are so easily hardened. 477 00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:20,000 Biblically, our hearts can be 478 00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:22,000 hardened by sin. And any time 479 00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:24,000 you've done anything that 480 00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:26,000 involves manual labor, 481 00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:28,000 I remember when I first learned to write, 482 00:54:28,000 --> 00:54:30,000 and your finger, you're writing with a 483 00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:32,000 pencil, and your finger hurts 484 00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:34,000 right where you're holding the pencil until 485 00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:36,000 as a kid you developed a callus. 486 00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:38,000 Or if you run bare feet 487 00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:40,000 and the first time you run barefoot across some 488 00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:42,000 gravel and it hurts, but as a kid 489 00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:44,000 you keep running and running, and pretty soon 490 00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:46,000 your feet have toughened up. 491 00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:48,000 The same thing happens to our hearts 492 00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:50,000 if we are engaged in 493 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:52,000 ongoing, rebellious behavior 494 00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:54,000 against God. Right? The first time 495 00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:56,000 our hearts are broken by 496 00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:58,000 our sin, and then the next time 497 00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:00,000 it's a little easier and a little easier 498 00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:02,000 until our hearts are so hard 499 00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:04,000 we just seek to justify our behavior 500 00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:06,000 rather than repent of it. 501 00:55:06,000 --> 00:55:08,000 But there's another way 502 00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:10,000 and I think this is common, especially 503 00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:12,000 among Christians. Our 504 00:55:12,000 --> 00:55:14,000 hearts can be hardened 505 00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:16,000 by a lack of thankfulness. 506 00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:18,000 Paul says 507 00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:20,000 it this way, "For what can be God is 508 00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:22,000 plain to them, for God has shown 509 00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:24,000 it to them for His invisible attributes, 510 00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:26,000 namely His eternal power, divine nature 511 00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:28,000 have been clearly perceived 512 00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,000 ever since the creation of the world 513 00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,000 and the things that have been made, so they are without 514 00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:34,000 excuse. For although they 515 00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:36,000 knew God, they did not honor Him 516 00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:38,000 as God or give thanks to Him. 517 00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,000 But they became futile in their 518 00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:42,000 thinking and their foolish hearts 519 00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:44,000 were hardened." 520 00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:46,000 And one of the things that Paul 521 00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:48,000 says, and one of the things that I think happens 522 00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:50,000 to God's people, is when God 523 00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:52,000 lavishes His goodness upon 524 00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:54,000 us. And when we 525 00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:56,000 don't give Him the credit, we don't honor 526 00:55:56,000 --> 00:55:58,000 Him, we don't become thankful for what He 527 00:55:58,000 --> 00:56:00,000 has given to us, our hearts become 528 00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:02,000 just a little bit harder. And we can see 529 00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:04,000 this in our everyday life, right? 530 00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:06,000 Because we live in a world that has some amazing 531 00:56:06,000 --> 00:56:08,000 things, if you think about it. If you 532 00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:10,000 walk into a dark room and 533 00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:12,000 you turn on a switch, what happens? 534 00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:14,000 Light comes, and we don't think 535 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:16,000 anything about it. We go down, and we 536 00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:18,000 turn on a kitchen 537 00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:20,000 sink, and right? Clean water comes out, 538 00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:22,000 and we don't think anything about that 539 00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:24,000 until what happens. 540 00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:26,000 Those lights aren't there, or the water is 541 00:56:26,000 --> 00:56:28,000 turned off because of a water main break, 542 00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:30,000 or a power outage, and all of a sudden 543 00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:32,000 we realize how wonderful it is to have 544 00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:34,000 electricity, and to have running 545 00:56:34,000 --> 00:56:36,000 water. And one of the things 546 00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:38,000 for us as Christians, if we are not 547 00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:40,000 continually thankful, continually 548 00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:42,000 reminding ourselves of God's 549 00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:44,000 goodness, continually 550 00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:46,000 rejoicing in His blessings, 551 00:56:46,000 --> 00:56:48,000 we become callous and hard-hearted, 552 00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:50,000 and we cease to see the amazing 553 00:56:50,000 --> 00:56:52,000 things that God 554 00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:54,000 is doing for us. 555 00:56:54,000 --> 00:56:56,000 And what Paul says 556 00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:58,000 as he quotes Isaiah 6, 557 00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:00,000 it's a tragedy. 558 00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:02,000 So you're hearing this good news. 559 00:57:02,000 --> 00:57:04,000 You're hearing the very thing 560 00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:06,000 that will bring healing, 561 00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:08,000 but because your heart has been hardened, 562 00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:10,000 whether by sin or by 563 00:57:10,000 --> 00:57:12,000 ungratefulness, or by 564 00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:14,000 just chasing after our own agenda 565 00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:16,000 for so long, that we miss 566 00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:18,000 the healing that is found 567 00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:20,000 in the good news of the Gospel. 568 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:22,000 Because our hearts are hard. 569 00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:24,000 And so Paul, as we 570 00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:26,000 look at these last few verses, we see 571 00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:28,000 he has the same mission 572 00:57:28,000 --> 00:57:30,000 we do: to proclaim Christ. 573 00:57:30,000 --> 00:57:32,000 He's empowered by the same 574 00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:34,000 power that we are, empowered 575 00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:36,000 with the work of the Holy Spirit. 576 00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:38,000 But he also leaves us with this 577 00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:40,000 warning: to guard 578 00:57:40,000 --> 00:57:42,000 our hearts. One of my favorite verses 579 00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:44,000 in the book of Proverbs 580 00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:46,000 is it talks about how we are to guard 581 00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:48,000 our heart with all diligence 582 00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:50,000 because from it 583 00:57:50,000 --> 00:57:52,000 it flows the river of life. 584 00:57:52,000 --> 00:57:54,000 Right? And there's an old cowboy saying 585 00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:56,000 never drink downstream from the cattle. 586 00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:58,000 Right? Because that's where all this stuff comes from. 587 00:57:58,000 --> 00:58:00,000 That's your heart. 588 00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:02,000 Your heart is that spring 589 00:58:02,000 --> 00:58:04,000 and everything in your life, from your behavior 590 00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:06,000 to your thoughts, flows 591 00:58:06,000 --> 00:58:08,000 from that spring. 592 00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:10,000 And so through the grace of God, 593 00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:12,000 Christians, we need to guard 594 00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:14,000 our hearts. We can guard 595 00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:16,000 it with repentance as we turn from sin. 596 00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:18,000 We can guard it with thankfulness 597 00:58:18,000 --> 00:58:20,000 and rejoice in what God has done. 598 00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,000 But Paul, 599 00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:24,000 speaking to his own countrymen, the people 600 00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:26,000 he desperately desires to see 601 00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:28,000 Jesus, he tells 602 00:58:28,000 --> 00:58:30,000 them you haven't guarded your heart 603 00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:32,000 and now you're missing the best news 604 00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:34,000 of all. Let's pray. Father, 605 00:58:34,000 --> 00:58:36,000 thank you for 606 00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:38,000 Jesus and for hope. Help us 607 00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:40,000 with our plans and our 608 00:58:40,000 --> 00:58:42,000 our future 609 00:58:42,000 --> 00:58:44,000 and our thoughts 610 00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:46,000 and our priorities 611 00:58:46,000 --> 00:58:48,000 to seek to follow 612 00:58:48,000 --> 00:58:50,000 you with everything that we have. 613 00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:52,000 Empower us with your 614 00:58:52,000 --> 00:58:54,000 Spirit. Strengthen us for the mission. 615 00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:56,000 Help us see the opportunities 616 00:58:56,000 --> 00:58:58,000 that you have given us. 617 00:58:58,000 --> 00:59:00,000 And help us to guard our hearts. 618 00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:02,000 Help us not to become 619 00:59:02,000 --> 00:59:04,000 hard-hearted to your goodness 620 00:59:04,000 --> 00:59:06,000 and to your love. It's in Jesus' name we pray. 621 00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:08,000 Amen. 622 00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:10,000 We're going to go ahead 623 00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:12,000 and stand 624 00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:14,000 and we're going 625 00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:16,000 to sing 626 00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:18,000 about where it is our hope is found 627 00:59:18,000 --> 00:59:20,000 and our cornerstone. 628 00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:22,000 Let's go ahead and be standing. 629 00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:48,000 My hope is built on nothing less 630 00:59:48,000 --> 00:59:54,000 than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 631 00:59:54,000 --> 01:00:02,000 I dare not trust the sweetest frame, 632 01:00:02,000 --> 01:00:08,000 but wholly trust in Jesus' name. 633 01:00:10,000 --> 01:00:20,000 My hope is built on nothing less 634 01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:26,000 than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 635 01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:32,000 I dare not trust the sweetest frame, 636 01:00:32,000 --> 01:00:38,000 but wholly trust in Jesus' name. 637 01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:48,000 Christ alone, cornerstone, 638 01:00:48,000 --> 01:00:54,000 weak made strong in the Savior's love. 639 01:00:54,000 --> 01:01:06,000 Through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all. 640 01:01:06,000 --> 01:01:22,000 When darkness to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. 641 01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:34,000 In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. 642 01:01:34,000 --> 01:02:02,000 My anchor holds within the veil. Christ alone, call us Lord. We pray strong in the Saviour's light, through the storm. He is Lord. 643 01:02:02,000 --> 01:02:30,000 He is Lord, Lord of all. He shall come with trumpet sound. Oh, may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone. 644 01:02:30,000 --> 01:02:58,000 Faultless stand before the throne. Christ alone, cold and storm, we've made strong in the Savior's love. For the storm, He is the Savior's love. 645 01:02:58,000 --> 01:03:06,000 He is the Lord, Lord our Lord. 646 01:03:28,000 --> 01:03:43,000 Good evening Bible study this week, so we will pick that up in the next couple weeks, but no Wednesday night Bible study this week. And no ladies' class this week? 647 01:03:43,000 --> 01:03:55,000 Yes, okay. All right, so ladies' class on Thursdays will begin back in August. A couple of things that we want to celebrate. 648 01:03:55,000 --> 01:04:22,000 So I'll let Holly start with the first one. Awesome. Awesome. And we'll send out an email with all this tomorrow. Also, August 14th. So we get to celebrate on the 6th. 649 01:04:22,000 --> 01:04:42,000 Holly, graduating with her master's August 14th. We're going to have a meal right after church and spend a little time celebrating Chrissy and new baby Theo who's on his way. So we'll have some more information about that as well. Any other announcements? 650 01:04:42,000 --> 01:04:49,000 All right. Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer. We'll read a verse of Scripture and then we'll sing the doxology. 651 01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:55,000 Thank you so much for your church. Thank you so much for your people. Thank you for how you love us and care for us. 652 01:04:55,000 --> 01:05:05,000 Be with us as we leave this place. May we keep our lives built firmly upon your goodness and grace. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 653 01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:15,000 Paul writes this in Ephesians. He'll say this, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or thank according to the power at work within us, 654 01:05:15,000 --> 01:05:22,000 for him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." 655 01:05:22,000 --> 01:05:25,000 We're going to sing the doxology and be dismissed. 656 01:05:45,000 --> 01:05:52,000 Praise him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.